Aston Villa head coach Steve Bruce wants to make Manchester United’s Sam Johnstone his first signing according to a report from the Daily Mail.
Villa have plenty of goalkeepers on the books right now with Jed Steer and Mark Bunn being joined by new signing Pierluigi Gollini in the summer but none of them have made the slot of their own, contributing to the club’s woes this season.
And this has led Bruce, who was appointed as their new manager earlier in the week, to look out for a new goalkeeper to sign and now he’s considering making a move for a player from his former club Manchester United. And the man Bruce is hoping to bring into Villa Park is Johnstone, a 23-year-old goalkeeper who is highly rated at Old Trafford.
While Johnstone hasn’t made a single appearance for United yet, he has gained plenty of experience being loaned out to several clubs in the Sky Bet Championship. While he has had a good spell with Doncaster Rovers, his most notable loan was at Preston North End where he impressed a lot during his time at the club.
Right now, it is unclear if Villa would be looking to sign Johnstone on a permanent deal or on loan. Manchester United would prefer to keep him contracted to them because their head coach Jose Mourinho highly rates him and believes he could provide competition to the likes of David de Gea and Sergio Romero in the future. However with Johnstone having 18 months on his contract, Villa may be able to persuade them with the right fee.
